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OPERATIONS FOR NOVEMBER. 
This should be a busy month with the gardener, as all ground that is unem- 
ployed should now be dug roughly over, to remain exposed to the atmosphere 
through the winter. An excellent practice with ground that has been long culti- 
vated, is to clear off all weeds, dig it very roughly, and after it has been thoroughly 
exposed to the air for two months, turn it over again in a contrary direction. This 
is a system frequently employed by good agriculturists, only substituting the 
plough for the spade, and it would be well if the gardener would occasionally take 
a survey of a well-cultivated farm, as there are many operations performed by 
farmers — frequently, it must be allowed, from no other reason than because they 
have experienced the good results of them, and without any correct knowledge of 
the causes from which those results proceed — from which an intelligent and 
observing individual may gather much valuable and useful information, and such 
as will greatly assist him in the more refined processes of horticulture. 
Many persons, and even those who are not without some just pretensions to 
ability, are disposed to treat very slightingly the practice of digging up ground in 
the autumn for the purpose of subjecting it to the various atmospheric influences 
which characterize the winter season. But those best acquainted with the science 
of gardening — and this has been most powerfully corroborated by experience — well 
know that such a process is calculated to produce the most beneficial results, and 
is far preferable to an application of manure on ground where only flowers are 
cultivated, as it ameliorates and renovates the soil, and decomposes all noxious 
extraneous substances, without imparting to it any of those rank qualities which 
manure invariably produces, and which are nearly always inimical to the blos- 
soming of plants. 
Stove and orchidaceous plants are, or should be, now enjoying a season of rest, 
and their treatment, as regards heat and moisture, should be regulated accordingly. 
Any dampness, that is, farther than is necessary to maintain life, or fire heat more 
than is required to exclude frost, should be alike regarded as seriously prejudicial, 
and, therefore, cautiously avoided. We will merely qualify these directions by 
saying, that small specimens of orchidaceous plants may, with some degree of 
propriety, be subjected to the excitement of a constant stimulus, as most culti- 
vators are anxious to possess large plants, and, while in a young state, they are not 
required, neither can they be expected, to produce many flowers. But, as soon as 
they have attained to a flowering state, such a practice should be immediately 
abandoned ; and, during the period through which it may be considered necessary 
to adopt it, the plants so treated should always be kept in a small house or pit by 
themselves. Forcing may be continued upon the principles recommended in our 
